2026 Subaru Outback
The 2026 Subaru Outback is sold in the U.S. as a gas compact SUV with 3 EPA-rated configurations. The most efficient version, the Outback AWD, is EPA-rated at 27 mpg combined. NHTSA lists no recall campaigns for this model year so far (Safety Signal A). Owners have filed 20 complaints, most often about the electrical system. Manufacturer pricing runs from $34,995 to $47,995 across 6 trims.
| Trim | Powertrain | Drive | MSRP | HP | Torque | Seats | Cargo (2nd row) | Wheels |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Premium | Gas | AWD | $34,995 | 180 hp | 178 lb-ft | 5 | 34.6 cu-ft | 18 in |
| Limited | Gas | AWD | $41,715 | 180 hp | 178 lb-ft | 5 | 34.6 cu-ft | 18 in |
| Touring | Gas | AWD | $45,395 | 180 hp | 178 lb-ft | 5 | 34.6 cu-ft | 18 in |
| Limited XT | Gas | AWD | $44,365 | 260 hp | 277 lb-ft | 5 | 34.6 cu-ft | 19 in |
| Touring XT | Gas | AWD | $47,995 | 260 hp | 277 lb-ft | 5 | 34.6 cu-ft | 19 in |
| Wilderness | Gas | AWD | $44,995 | 260 hp | 277 lb-ft | 5 | 34.6 cu-ft | 17 in |
MSRP excludes destination. Open a trim for the complete spec sheet and standard/optional equipment. Have the car in front of you? Decode its VIN to see which of these trims it is and what it was priced at.
Specs & fuel economy
Source: EPA fueleconomy.gov| Configuration | Powertrain | Drive | Engine / motor | City | Hwy | Comb | Annual fuel* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Outback AWD | Gas | AWD | 2.5L 4-cyl | 25 | 31 | 27 | $2,500 |
| Outback AWD | Gas | AWD | 2.4L 4-cyl turbo | 21 | 29 | 24 | $2,800 |
| Outback Wilderness AWD | Gas | AWD | 2.4L 4-cyl turbo | 21 | 27 | 23 | $2,900 |
*EPA estimate at 15,000 miles/year at EPA reference fuel and electricity prices. fueleconomy.gov record ids: 49531, 49533, 49536.
The cheapest ownership win
Insurers price the 2026 Outback very differently, and the gap between the best and worst quote on the same car and driver is usually larger than any option you are weighing on this page.
How to compare cover →Affiliate disclosure: some links on this page are affiliate links. If you request a quote or buy through them we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Nothing on this page changes because of it.
Recalls (0)
Source: NHTSA recall databaseNo NHTSA recall campaigns are on file for the 2026 Subaru Outback. New campaigns appear here within a week of NHTSA posting them.
These are vehicle campaigns — the ones the automaker filed against this model. NHTSA also records equipment recalls, filed by a parts maker against a component (a tyre, a child seat, an aftermarket part), and those are not listed here or counted above. nhtsa.gov/recalls shows both for a VIN.
Hear about a recall before the letter does
The manufacturer’s letter is the last step of a recall: it has up to 60 days after filing to mail owners, at the address on the registration. We email you the day NHTSA posts a recall on the 2026 Subaru Outback, with what to do next. Nothing else, ever — no newsletter, no marketing, one-click unsubscribe in every message.
Parts & accessories for the 2026 Subaru Outback
Search by fitment on eBay Motors — OEM take-offs, aftermarket, and the trim pieces dealers no longer stock. The listing and the price are the seller's.
Find parts for this Outback →Owner complaints
Source: NHTSA complaint database1 involved a crash · 0 a fire · 4 injuries · 0 deaths reported
2.5 per 10,000 built · Subaru reported 81,280 Outback built (its Early Warning production report to NHTSA)
Filed per year: 2026: 20
Most-cited components
In owners' own words
Filed with NHTSA by the people who own these cars, one per problem area. Quoted as written, with anything identifying removed.
The blue EyeSight Assist Monitor indicator lights on my 2026 Subaru Outback Touring XT do not illuminate as described in the owner’s manual. According to the 2026 Subaru Outback EyeSight Owner’s Manual (page 251), the EyeSight Assist Monitor LEDs should illuminate in the sequence Blue → Yellow → Red → Green during the startup self-check.
The read passenger tire Dunlop 255/60R18 100H exploded while driving at approx. 30miles/hour. The tire did not have any punctures and did not hit any board walk. No previous warning whatsoever. A portion of the tire side broke apart, resulting in a kind of rubber tongue. The vehicle is new Subaru Outback with approx.
I have owned this vehicle since January 2026. It's the first vehicle I have owned with a forward collision warning system and active emergency braking. And this is the first time this "failure" has happened, so far...
New car with only 965 miles. At 580 miles the car when I started it said safety eyesight system not working. I shut off car and restarted it and system connected itself. Today I was on highway doing 62mph and the entire dashboard, information and safety features displays went completely black without any warning.
Incident Summary: On August 23, 2026, a multi-occupant injury event occurred during routine city braking due to an inherent occupant packaging design defect in the vehicle’s front seating and sun visor layout.
I'm new to this automotive technology. When I was introduced to the car, one of the "features" indicated was the ability to sense and slow down for curves, if the system sensed the need, when operating under the cruise control option.
Complaint counts are raw owner reports to NHTSA, not verified defects, and scale with how many were sold. Use them to spot patterns, not to rank.
Crash ratings
Source: NHTSA NCAPNHTSA has not published 5-Star crash ratings for this model year.
Service bulletins & campaigns
Source: NHTSA manufacturer communicationsMost often about: Electrical System, Unknown Or Other, Engine, Power Train, Forward Collision Avoidance.
- 11037943 Other2026-10-05 · Electrical System
- This announcement provides information on a new software update for the Midtronics Dss and DCA machines.
- 11037942 Other2026-09-28 · Power Train
- This announcement provides information on an enhancement of the TechShare CVT diagnostic assitance application.
- 13-109-26 Service bulletin2026-09-18 · Unknown Or Other
- This bulletin provides paint code information for 2027 model year vehicles.
- 18-245-26 Service bulletin2026-09-18 · Electrical System
- "This service information bulletin announces additional troubleshooting steps for the following DTCs: DTC C195319 RIGHT EPB CIRCUIT CURRENT ABOVE THRESHOLD DTC C195349 RIGHT EPB CIRCUIT INTERNAL ELECTRONIC FAILURE DTC C19531B RIGHT EPB CIRCUIT RESISTANCE ABOVE THRESHOLD DTC C195313 RIGHT EPB CIRCUIT OPEN DTC C195419 LEFT EPB CIRCUIT CURRENT ABOVE THRESHOLD DTC C195449 LEFT EPB CIRCUIT INTERNAL ELE
- 11037930 Other2026-09-15 · Unknown Or Other
- This announcement provides an update to all 2027 model year Subaru warranty coverages for wear items and adjustments.
- 12-268-25R Service bulletin2026-09-15 · Visibility/Wiper
- This bulletin announces a repair procedure developed to address cases of the driver side mirror glass vibrating at highway speeds. This is an revised version of the original bulletin.
- 15-304-22R Service bulletin2026-09-14 · Electrical System
- This bulletin has been developed to outline the steps for gathering basic but essential information during diagnosis of Infotainment concerns. This is an revised version of the original bulletin.
- 15-331-25R Service bulletin2026-09-14 · Electrical System
- This bulletin has been developed to outline the steps for gathering basic but essential information during diagnosis of Infotainment concerns. This is an revised version of the original bulletin.
A service bulletin is the manufacturer telling its dealers how to diagnose or repair a known condition. It is not a recall, not a finding that the vehicle is defective, and the work is not automatically free — though a bulletin is often what a dealer works from when you describe a symptom, so quoting the document number can save a diagnosis. The count is every communication filed; the list shows the most recent, one entry per campaign, because a single campaign is usually filed as several documents on the same day. The summaries are NHTSA's; the full documents come from the manufacturer.
Diagnostic trouble codes on file
Source: NHTSA manufacturer communications and complaintsCodes documented against this model year in the federal record. A code appearing here does not mean this vehicle will set it — it means the code is part of this nameplate-year's documented history.
| Code | What it means | Most often filed under | Where it appears |
|---|---|---|---|
| B2A20 | Manufacturer-defined — the meaning is set by the automaker, not the standard. | Electrical System · Battery → | 3 bulletins |
Generic codes (the second character is 0 or 2) mean the same thing on every vehicle sold in the United States. Manufacturer-specific codes (1 or 3) mean whatever the automaker assigned, and no honest source can define them for you — which is why the ones here carry the evidence instead of a definition. A code is a link when enough separate federal documents name it across the catalogue to be worth a page of its own; the rest are listed here, where the vehicle is the context that makes them mean something.
Affiliate disclosure: some links on this page are affiliate links. If you request a quote or buy through them we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Nothing on this page changes because of it.
Compare the 2026 Outback with
Any vehicle, your weights →| Head-to-head | Verdict | |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 Toyota RAV4 · Compact SUV · grade A | Toss-up |
Outback by model year
all years, side by side →Common questions about the 2026 Outback
Source: EPA, NHTSA and manufacturer press kitsHow much does the 2026 Subaru Outback cost?
Manufacturer pricing runs from $34,995 for the Premium AWD to $47,995 for the Touring XT AWD, across 6 trims. Those are MSRPs from the manufacturer's own press material; they exclude destination, options, taxes and whatever the dealer adds. Every trim and price is listed above.
Does the 2026 Subaru Outback have any recalls?
No NHTSA recall campaigns are on file for the 2026 Subaru Outback. New campaigns appear here within a week of NHTSA posting them, and a clean sheet on a recent model year often just means the vehicle is new.
How safe is the 2026 Subaru Outback?
NHTSA has not published a crash-test rating for the 2026 Subaru Outback yet. On the recall record WhichTrim grades it A (100/100), which measures open and severe recalls rather than crash protection.
What is the fuel economy of the 2026 Subaru Outback?
Across the 3 EPA-rated configurations of the 2026 Subaru Outback, the best EPA combined figure is 27 mpg. Figures are the EPA's own, per configuration, and every one is listed above.
What do owners complain about on the 2026 Subaru Outback?
Owners have filed 20 complaints with NHTSA about the 2026 Subaru Outback, most often about unspecified, electrical system, forward collision avoidance. Of those, 1 involved a crash, 4 reported injuries. Complaints are unverified owner reports, so treat the pattern as a signal and the individual report as an anecdote.
Are there service bulletins for the 2026 Subaru Outback?
The manufacturer has filed 67 service bulletins and related communications with NHTSA for the 2026 Subaru Outback, most often covering electrical system, unknown or other, engine. The most recent is dated 2026-10-05. A bulletin is not a recall: it is the repair procedure a manufacturer sends its dealers for a condition it knows about, and the work is not automatically paid for. It is still worth knowing — if the symptom matches, quoting the bulletin number at the service desk can save a diagnosis. The document numbers and summaries are listed above.
Which 2026 Subaru Outback trim is the best value?
$13,000 separates the cheapest of the 6 trims from the most expensive, so the answer depends on which of the differences you would actually use. Every trim has its own page here with the manufacturer's full specification and equipment list, plus a short summary of exactly what it adds over the base trim — worth reading before a dealer frames the walk-up for you. The trim-by-trim ladder shows what every step up costs and what it makes standard.
Is the 2026 Subaru Outback better than the 2026 Toyota RAV4?
Too close to call: Subaru Outback 89.5 vs Toyota RAV4 87.6 with these weights. The Toyota RAV4 is ahead on fuel & range and price. Raise the fuel & range weight from 3 to 4 and it flips. We publish a full side-by-side of the 2026 Subaru Outback against the 2026 Toyota RAV4 — specifications by family, equipment feature by feature, safety record and ownership costs. You can re-weight what matters to you and the verdict recalculates.
What we hold, and what an empty row means
Paid vehicle-history reports will not tell you the difference between “nothing happened to this car” and “we never received that record” — both of the big two say as much in their own help pages. Most of what is on this page comes from complete federal registers, so we can tell you which is which, row by row.
| Data | Held | Source | What it covers — or what empty means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fuel economy & configurations | 3 configurations | EPA certification records | Every configuration the EPA certified for sale, with its own test figures. |
| Emission certificates | none | EPA emission certificates | The EPA published no certificate we could match to a configuration on this page. |
| Recalls | none | NHTSA recall campaigns | No campaign has been filed. Because the register is complete, an empty row here means there is nothing to find — not that we are missing it. |
| Owner complaints | 20 | NHTSA complaint database | Also complete, but unverified: these are reports owners filed, not findings. Counts scale with how many were sold. |
| Crash ratings | none | NHTSA NCAP | NHTSA has not tested this model year. Cars are selected for testing, so untested is not unsafe. |
| Service bulletins | 67 | NHTSA manufacturer communications | Everything the manufacturer told its dealers about a defect or malfunction, short of a recall. |
| Investigations | none | NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation | No defect investigation has been opened. |
| Driver-assist crash reports | none | NHTSA Standing General Order 2021-01 | No report has been filed. Only entities named in the order report, and only crashes they hear of — so this is also what an unequipped car, or a manufacturer without telematics, looks like. |
| Specifications filed with NHTSA | none | NHTSA vPIC, decoded from VIN patterns | We had no VIN pattern to decode for this model year, or the manufacturer filed nothing usable. |
| Trims, pricing & equipment | 6 trims | Manufacturer press kit | Transcribed from the manufacturer's own press material, every value carrying the document it came from. |
Rebuilt nightly; this page was generated 2026-10-26. Every figure above is traceable to the source named beside it, and the JSON for this page carries the same values with their identifiers.
Sources & method
Safety Signal starts every model-year at 100 and subtracts points per open NHTSA recall campaign by severity: critical 15 (fire risk, park-outside or do-not-drive advisories), high 8 (brakes, steering, airbags, loss of drive power, structure, battery), moderate 6, minor 3 (software, labels, lighting fixed by an update). The most serious recall counts in full and each further one counts 85% of the one before, because a vehicle sold in millions is recalled more often than a rare one without being more dangerous — and because a flat subtraction bottomed the scale out, scoring a vehicle with 22 recalls within a point of one with six. A ≥ 90, B ≥ 80, C ≥ 70, D ≥ 60, otherwise F. Read it as what it counts: recall campaigns on the federal record, weighted by severity. The damping reduces the sales bias by roughly 40% but does not remove it: like our complaint counts, this is not normalized by how many were sold, so a best-seller still scores somewhat worse than an obscure model with the same real risk. NHTSA crash ratings, do-not-drive and park-outside advisories, and the crash, fire, injury and death counts in owner complaints are reported separately on every page and never blended into the letter — a vehicle can hold five stars and a poor letter at once, and where that happens we say so rather than leave you to notice. Because the scale subtracts from a clean sheet, a model year too new to have been recalled, complained about or bulletined scores full marks on an empty record; we label those grades provisional rather than present them as earned.
EPA figures come from fueleconomy.gov vehicle records. Recalls, complaints, investigations and crash ratings come from NHTSA's public flat files, refreshed nightly. Trim-level specifications and pricing are transcribed from the manufacturer's official press kit; every value carries its source in the data file.